PART VII-REGULATORY PROGRAMS

INTERSTATE LAND SALES

EXCERPTS FROM HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT ACT OF 1968 [Public Law 90-448; 82 Stat. 476, 590; 15 U.S.C. 1701]

TITLE XIV-INTERSTATE LAND SALES

SHORT TITLE

SEC. 1401. This title may be cited as the "Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act."

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 1402. For the purposes of this title, the term—

(1) "Secretary" means the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development;

(2) "person" means an individual, or an unincorporated organization, partnership, association, corporation, trust, or estate; (3) "subdivision" means any land which is located in any State or in a foreign country and is divided or is proposed to be divided into lots, whether contiguous or not, for the purpose of sale or lease as part of a common promotional plan;

(4) "common promotional plan" means a plan, undertaken by a single developer or a group of developers acting in concert, to offer lots for sale or lease; where such land is offered for sale by such a developer or group of developers acting in concert, and such land is contiguous or is known, designated, or advertised as a common unit or by a common name, such land shall be presumed, without regard to the number of lots covered by each individual offering, as being offered for sale or lease as part of a common promotional plan;

(5) "developer" means any person who, directly or indirectly, sells or leases, or offers to sell or lease, or advertises for sale or lease any lots in a subdivision;

(6) "agent" means any person who represents, or acts for or on behalf of, a developer in selling or leasing, or offering to sell or lease, any lot or lots in a subdivision; but shall not include an attorney at law whose representation or another person consists solely of rendering legal services;

(7) "blanket encumbrance" means a trust deed, mortgage, judgment, or any other lien or encumbrance, including an option or contract to sell or a trust agreement, affecting a subdivision or affecting more than one lot offered within a subdivision, except that such term shall not include any lien or other encumbrance arising as the result of the imposition of any tax assessment by any public authority;

(8) "interstate commerce" means trade or commerce among the several states or between any foreign country and any state;

(9) "State" includes the several States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories and possessions of the United States;

(10) "purchaser" means an actual or prospective purchaser or lessee of any lot in a subdivision;

(11) "offer" includes any inducement, solicitation, or attempt to encourage a person to acquire a lot in a subdivision.

EXEMPTIONS

SEC. 1403. (a) Unless the method of disposition is adopted for the purpose of evasion of this title, the provisions of this title shall not apply to

(1) the sale or lease of lots in a subdivision containing less than twenty-five lots;

(2) the sale or lease of any improved land on which there is a residential, commercial, condominium, or industrial building, or the sale or lease of land under a contract obligating the seller or lessor to erect such a building thereon within a period of two years;

(3) the sale of evidences of indebtedness secured by a mortgage or deed of trust on real estate;

(4) the sale of securities issued by a real estate investment trust;

(5) the sale or lease of real estate by any government or government agency;

(6) the sale or lease of cemetery lots;

(7) the sale or lease of lots to any person who acquires such lots for the purpose of engaging in the business of constructing residential, commercial, or industrial buildings or for the purpose of resale or lease of such lots to persons engaged in such business; or

(8) the sale or lease of real estate which is zoned by the appropriate governmental authority for industrial or commercial development or which is restricted to such use by a declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions which has been recorded in the official records of the city or county in which such real estate is located, when

(A) local authorities have approved access from such real estate to a public street or highway;

(B) the purchaser or lessee of such real estate is a duly organized corporation, partnership, trust, or business entity engaged in commercial or industrial business;

(C) the purchaser or lessee of such real estate is represented in the transaction of sale or lease by a representative of its own selection;

(D) the purchaser or lessee of such real estate affirms in writing to the seller or lessor that it either (i) is purchasing or leasing such real estate substantially for its own use, or (ii) has a binding commitment to sell, lease, or sublease such real estate to an entity which meets the re

quirements of subparagraph (B), is engaged in commercial or industrial business, and is not affiliated with the seller, lessor, or agent thereof; and

(E) a policy of title insurance or a title opinion is issued in connection with the transaction showing that title to the real estate purchased or leased is vested in the seller or lessor, subject only to such exceptions as may be approved in writing by such purchaser or the lessee prior to recordation of the instrument of conveyance or execution of the lease, but (i) nothing herein shall be construed as requiring the recordation of a lease, and (ii) any purchaser or lessee may waive, in writing in a separate document, the requirement of this subparagraph that a policy of title insurance or title opinion be issued in connection with the

transaction.

(b) Unless the method of disposition is adopted for the purpose of evasion of this title, the provisions requiring registration and disclosure (as specified in section 1404(a)(1) and sections 1405 through 1408) shall not apply to

(1) the sale or lease of lots in a subdivision containing fewer than one hundred lots which are not exempt under subsection (a);

(2) the sale or lease of lots in a subdivision if, within the twelve-month period commencing on the date of the first sale or lease of a lot in such subdivision after the effective date of this subsection or on such other date within that twelve-month period as the Secretary may prescribe, not more than twelve lots are sold or leased, and the sale or lease of the first twelve lots in such subdivision in any subsequent twelve-month period, if not more than twelve lots have been sold or leased in any preceding twelve-month period after the effective date of this subsection;

(3) the sale or lease of lots in a subdivision if each noncontiguous part of such subdivision contains not more than twenty lots, and if the purchaser or lessee (or spouse thereof) has made a personal, on-the-lot inspection of the lot purchased or leased, prior to signing of the contract or agreement to purchase or lease;

(4) the sale or lease of lots in a subdivision in which each of the lots is at least twenty acres (inclusive of easements for ingress and egress or public utilities);

(5) the sale or lease of a lot which is located within a municipality or county where a unit of local government specifies minimum standards for the development of subdivision lots taking place within its boundaries, when

(A)(i) the subdivision meets all local codes and standards, and (ii) each lot is either zoned for single family residences or, in the absence of a zoning ordinance, is limited exclusively to single family residences;

(B)(i) the lot is situated on a paved street or highway which, has been built to standards applicable to streets and highways maintained by the unit of local government in which the subdivision is located and is acceptable to such unit, or, where such street or highway is not com

plete, a bond or other surety acceptable to the municipality or county in the full amount of the cost of completing such street or highway has been posted to assure completion to such standards, and (ii) the unit of local government or a homeowners association has accepted or is obligated to accept the responsibility of maintaining such street or highway, except that, in any case in which a homeowners association has accepted or is obligated to accept such responsibility, a good faith written estimate of the cost of carrying out such responsibility over the first ten years of ownership or lease is provided to the purchaser or lessee prior to the signing of the contract or agreement to purchase or lease;

(C) at the time of closing, potable water, sanitary sewage disposal, and electricity have been extended to the lot or the unit of local government is obligated to install such facilities within one hundred and eighty days, and, for subdivisions which do not have a central water or sewage disposal system, rather than installation of water or sewer facilities, there must be assurances that an adequate potable water supply is available year-round and that the lot is approved for the installation of a septic tank;

(D) the contract of sale requires delivery of a warranty deed (or, where such deed is not commonly used in the jurisdiction where the lot is located, a deed or grant which warrants that the grantor has not conveyed the lot to another person and that the lot is free from encumbrances made by the grantor or any other person claiming by, through, or under him) to the purchaser within one hundred and eighty days after the signing of the sales contract;

(E) at the time of closing, a title insurance binder or a title opinion reflecting the condition of the title shall be in existence and issued or presented to the purchaser or lessee showing that, subject only to such exceptions as may be approved in writing by the purchaser or lessee at the time of closing, marketable title to the lot is vested in the seller or lessor;

(F) the purchaser or lessee (or spouse thereof) has made a personal, on-the-lot inspection of the lot purchased or leased, prior to signing of the contract or agreement to purchase or lease; and

(G) there are no offers, by direct mail or telephone solicitation, of gifts, trips, dinners, or other such promotional techniques to induce prospective purchasers or lessees to visit the subdivision or to purchase or lease a lot;

(6) the sale or lease of a lot, if a mobile home is to be erected or placed thereon as a residence, where the lot is sold as a homesite by one party and the home by another, under contracts that obligate such sellers to perform, contingent upon the other seller carrying out its obligations so that a completed mobile home will be erected or placed on the completed homesite within a period of two years, and provide for all funds received by the sellers to be deposited in escrow accounts (con